Rebecca M. Douglass, Author

I'm off for the next 6 weeks, collecting more photos and stories for the travel/adventure side of this blog! Please don't forget about me while I'm gone, okay? To help be sure you won't, I'll be posting a photo or two at random times and a few hints about what I'm up to. If you comment, I'll do my best to get around to read it and visit you, but can't make any promises. I'm not going off the grid the way I did in Nepal last fall, but travel is time-consuming and exhausting. Meanwhile, enjoy reading old flash fiction here on the blog , or purchase one of my collections of stories: Libraries: where all the words live. In this collection of tales about books and libraries, we meet dragons and wizards who run some unusual libraries, and bibliophiles who are willing to go to great extremes to visit them. And perhaps some cautionary tales about what can happen when we love books not wisely, but too well. ebook only: Amazon Smashwords B&N   Kobo Ap

Those of you who follow the IWSG and especially the IWSG book club may have noticed some helpful posts from Toi Thomas about how to make your books more discoverable. I have long been aware that sometimes my blog barely reflects at all the fact that I write novels. The time may have come to fix that! One of her suggestions was to write articles about your books, your writing process, etc.  I have been trying to raise my profile as a writer by writing most weeks about progress and the process. But that still doesn't bring up my books, especially the ones that are out there to buy as opposed to the ones I'm working on. To address that, I am launching a new series of "Writer's Wednesday" posts specifically about my books, starting with this post about Pismawallops Island, the fictional setting of my PTA mystery series. Everything you wanted to know about Pismawallops Island but were afraid to ask Where is Pismawallops Island located? Pismawallops is an island in the

  Title: Mistletoe and Murder (Murder Most Unladylike #5) Author: Robin Stevens Publication Info: Simon and Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2018 (US Edition). 352 pages (Kindle Edition). Source: Library Publisher's Blurb: Daisy Wells and Hazel Wong are spending the Christmas holidays in snowy Cambridge. Hazel is looking forward to a calm vacation among the beautiful spires, cozy libraries, and inviting tea-rooms. But there is danger lurking in the dark stairwells of ancient Maudlin College and two days before Christmas, there is a terrible accident. At least, it appears to be an accident—until the Detective Society looks a little closer, and realizes a murder has taken place. Faced with several irritating grown-ups and fierce competition from a rival agency, they must use all their cunning and courage if they’re going to find the killer before Christmas dinner. My Review: This 5th novel in the Wells & Wong/Murder Most Unladylike series is a strong mystery at a fa

Way back about a million years ago (that would be the start of April), I did that little trip to the Grand Canyon (see previous photo posts). On the way back, I met up with some other friends for a day and a bit, and we visited the Crowley Lake columns. I almost didn't write this up, because I'm not sure I want to call more attention and draw more traffic to the area. I will trust that my readers are not yahoos and will treat the Earth with kindness. For a good explanation of the columns, check out this article . I know enough geology to have sussed out that they are volcanic in origin in some part, and must have had something to do with water. They are also available for study thanks to water--specifically, to the erosive action of waves on the shore of Crowley Lake, a man-made reservoir. Access to the columns is by boat, by a 4- or 5-mile hike, or by 4WD, high-clearance vehicle (yes, this is one that really means it, not a road you can fudge with a Prius). Lucky for us, one o

  Something Shady at Sunshine Haven (The Accidental Detective) by Kris Bock About Something Shady at Sunshine Haven   Something Shady at Sunshine Haven (The Accidental Detective)   Cozy Mystery, 1st in Series Setting  Arizona Tule Publishing (April 7, 2022)   Paperback ‏ : ‎ 324 pages ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 195489449X ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1954894495 Digital ASIN ‏ : ‎ B097WJYYBZ Publisher's Blurb : She’s pursued the most dangerous news stories around the world. But can she survive going home? Injured in a bombing, war correspondent Kate Tessler returns to her hometown in Arizona to recover. For the first time in her life, she's starting to feel her age of nearly fifty despite living like a teenager again: staying in her childhood bedroom with only a cat for company, trying to understand why her sister resents her so much, and running into people who still refer to her as Kitty. The hardest part? Seeing her once-sharp and witty mother stuck in an Alzheimer's unit. When

  What is the IWSG? Read on! Purpose: To share and encourage. Writers can express doubts and concerns without fear of appearing foolish or weak. Those who have been through the fire can offer assistance and guidance. It’s a safe haven for insecure writers of all kinds! Posting: The first Wednesday of every month is officially Insecure Writer’s Support Group day. Post your thoughts on your own blog. Talk about your doubts and the fears you have conquered. Discuss your struggles and triumphs. Offer a word of encouragement for others who are struggling. Visit others in the group and connect with your fellow writer - aim for a dozen new people each time - and return comments. This group is all about connecting! Let’s rock the neurotic writing world! Our Twitter handle is @TheIWSG and hashtag is #IWSG. The awesome co-hosts for the June 1 posting of the IWSG are SE White, Cathrina Constantine, Natalie Aguire, Joylene Nowell Butler, and Jacqui Murray! The Optional Ju

Today I have for you... a few shots of a the giant driving marathon I've been on this past week. I was sad to have to leave my new home almost as soon as the truck was unloaded, but Eldest Son needed help moving home with his newly-minted MA, and we needed to be in CA for my father-in-law's memorial gathering. So since last Saturday I have driven from Seattle to Boulder, CO, and back to California (still have to finish the loop back to Seattle). Along the (2500-mile) way I have managed to get in 2 things I could call a hike and a couple of walks. Here are a few highlights. This was either Montana or Wyoming. A roadside rest stop with full facilities for all users. One walk was at Vedauwoo Climbing Area in Wyoming. I meant to camp there, but the place wasn't open yet for the season. I did camp nearby, and woke to snow and then hail. I 80 was heavily fogged in. This shot is from my breakfast stop, after the fog thinned a bit. Managed to break away from the packing up (haven&#

Just wanted to let you all know I am still here! I am in the depths of moving into my new home and have no internet yet, so no big posts.  The big news is, I finished my redraft and am ready to start revising! No further explanation needed for my silence, right?

Title: Code Talker: The First and Only Memoir by one of the Original Navajo Code Talkers of WWII Author: Chester Nez with Judith Schiess Avila Publication Info: Paperback: Dutton Caliber, 2011, 296 pages. Original hardcover, 2011, Berkley Source: Purchased at the Grand Canyon! Publisher's Blurb: Although more than 400 Navajos served in the military during World War II as top-secret code talkers, even those fighting shoulder to shoulder with them were not told of their covert function. And, after the war, the Navajos were forbidden to speak of their service until 1968, when the code was finally declassified. Of the original twenty-nine Navajo code talkers, only two are still alive. Chester Nez is one of them. [Note: this was true as off 2011]. In this memoir, the eighty-nine-year-old Nez chronicles both his war years and his life growing up on the Checkerboard Area of the Navajo Reservation-the hard life that gave him the strength, both physical and mental, to become a Mar